Telephone Nurse Triage Handbook

This ebook discusses the history and technological advancements of nurse triage, specifically in the context of telephone medicine.

Nurse triage is a method of prioritizing medical treatments based on the severity of a patient’s condition. It originated in the early 1800s as a system for treating wounded soldiers, and has since been adopted in the emergency sectors of hospitals and call centers. The development of better software and communication systems has allowed some telephone triage nurses to work remotely, which offers advantages such as adapting more easily to call volume changes and cutting down on transportation times.

Recent technological improvements in nurse triage include: providers being able to use secure text messaging to comply with HIPAA requirements when receiving patient data; patients being able to request a nurse call directly from their smartphones; call centers being able to incorporate triage protocols into their own Electronic Medical Records (EMRs); answering services being able to securely enter calls directly into the clinical call center triage queue without sending a fax; and triage notes from the call center being able to be sent directly back to the provider’s EMR system.

Telephone nurse triage works by having  patients speak with trained nurses in a call center who assess their symptoms and follow established protocols to determine the appropriate levels of care. Each nurse provides advice to their patient which may include seeking medical attention, administering self-care at home, or being referred to another healthcare provider. Telephone nurse triage is an efficient way of providing medical assistance, especially during off-hours when many clinics are closed.

Overall, nurse triage has revolutionized how medical service providers care for their patients, and recent advancements have made it even more efficient and cost effective. It provides patients with access to medical advice when they need it most, and helps ensure that medical treatments are prioritized based on the severity of their conditions, ultimately leading to better health outcomes.

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